hey everybody!!!! 

it has been awhile since I have written you all in a group email....and it has been way to long since i have written a good email with details and everything. so here it goes.

i am still here in trebol, and i am now companions with hermana boror. Hermana acosta is still in trebol, but has recieved another companion, hermana brandaris. so now there are a total of 6 missionarys in trebol!!!!!! 

This week i had an interview with president cordon. it was good to talk to him, especially since he will be ending his mission in july. I always love the inpsiration that he recieves for each and every one of us, and i always feel a thousan times better leaving his office... :) 

well this week has been a crazy one. Some people say that the mission gets easier with the more time you have....and well, whoever made that up is so wrong. haha :) it gets a lot more fun, but really never gets easier. One day we were out working...and we were doing contacting in the street. We approached a man, and my companion said, "hello brother, how are you?" He turned his head and didnt say anything. This time she held out her hand and said, " hello brother, we are missionaries from the church of Jesus Christ of Latter day saints." He turned his head, looked at my companions hand and said, " I am not your brother." And then walked away. And that was like a smack in the face. It wasnt the first time that this had happened, and it definiltey wont be the last, but i got to thinking a lot. 

When Jesus Chrsit was in His earthly ministry, He too was preaching the gospel, working miracles...visiting the people. When He might have held out His Hand, and might have said, "hello brother", how many people turned thier heads away or walked away and said, i am not your brother???? i am sure that happened on a daily basis. And after this earhtly ministry..He suffered in the Gethsamani....bled from every pore to the point that He was in absolute agony. Then after that, they took Him and put a crown of Thorns on His precious Head...and whipped His back. He was smit upon and smacked and after all that He was forced to carry His cross up the Hill. He then had nails placed in His feet and HIs Hands....and shortly after that, He died. He died for me...for you....for the whole world. He did this for all of our sins, and mistakes and errors. He did this for all of our pains, and anguish and sadness and deppresion that we may ever feel in this life. 

what would you have done if you had been there in that very moment that He had that huge cross upon His back?? Would you have helped Him carry that cross? Or what if you were there when they started to put the nails in His hands? what would you have done in that moment? If I had been there, I would have given all of the Roman soldiers a good knuckle sandwich. Maybe that sounds funny to you....but I am serious. What would we have done? He suffered all of this pain for us.

Now, as members of the church...how are we in our callings? are we fulfilling them the best we can? are we going to all of our church meetings every sunday? are we treating our families well and serving others? and for all of us missionaries....are we doing what we need to do in our mission to fulfill our sacred calling to the maximum? If we are not doing this...if you are not doing this...it is as if we were standing in that moment when Chrsit had the cross on His back, and not doing anything. Fulfill your callings, in the church, with your family, with the missionary work and with your work. If we are not doing what we need to....the Atonement was done in vain.

But i know it was not. I know it was done for me. I will do what i need to do to fulfill my calling as a missionary. The invitation for you is to do that as well.

I have a testimoney of the Atonement. I know it can relieve us of our mistakes and pains. Allow the atonement to penetrate your life. If you can do so, it will carry you. :) 

I love you all. I really do. Have a great week, and have a great conference weekend. :) 

Until next week....

Love, Hermana Thomas 

11 months

I am feeling pressure here in the mission like i have never felt before and the repentance proccess was hitting me way hard last week. our numbers sucked, i wasnt into the work. i was doing what we needed to do, but not because i wanted to do. yet again, this companionship has been a hard one, just like last time. i felt like i was insufficient, and ready to lay done, say I was done....and die. haha im serious. but I learned something. i am not here to fight with my companion, and i am not herefor her to beat me up and drag me down. i am not here to be deppressed or to be homesick, or to put myself down for stuff that are out of my control. I AM NOT HERE TO FAIL. I will do everything in my power as a representative of Jesus Christ, to bring people unto Him. I know the atonement changes lives....it thoroughly changed my life last week, and I feel unstoppable. Yes I have struggles......no I am not perfect. Wil I continue to have hard times in the mission...yes. But it is all about the attitude. And I am not choosing to be miserable, I am choosing to be happy and to enjoy every single moment. before it disappears. These7 months I have a commitment with God and with myself to do everything I can to learn, apply, and teach the best I know how. Before anything..comes personal conversion. If i am not converted first to christ, how am I to help others? its not possible. I AM GOING TO BE THE MISSIONARY OF MY DREAMS. i am going to succeed in these next 7 months. i am going to baptize a family, and be the best friend of every single one of my companions....and be the example that I should be as a servant of the Lord. I know this gospel is true. I cannot deny it, and can never live wihtout it. So i will live it well. I have prayed with all my heart, and I know it is something that every child of God needs. I know that this Gospel was restored by Joseph Smith. I know that he was an uneducated man, and didnt have much....but he had the desire to serve God, and to know the truths of God. I know like him, I am maybe uneducated....I come from a hard background with many hardships. But I to have a desire to serve God, and to learn of Him. I know that God makes weak, meek men into the strongest of examples and teachers. I want to be like that, and I will be like that. 

I am here to benefit others...to serve others....and through that, i know my family and friends will be blessed. I too will be blessed through obedience and dilignece.

El Salvador needs me, Trebol needs me. I will do everything in my power to strengthen and convert this area into one of the strongest wards El Salvador has ever seen.

i have:

7 months.

A desire.

A calling.

A responsibilty.

i am willing to do my part. With God, all is possible. I am not perfect, but I have faith. I am a convert to this Gospel... i was a member all my life, but didnt believe most of the time. Through a simple prayer, I gained a testimoney. I am hermana thomas, I am a convert, and a missionary of Jesus Christ. This is my testimoney, and I hope you can benefit from it.

Have a great week, and thank you for your love and support.

love, hermana thomas

hey, today I recieve a new companion in about an hour. They are opening up another area in trebol. but there are changes next week in the mission.....we dont know if this is permanent or temporary. So far i think i am staying. if not, i will let you know. as for now i have been with hermana boror, and with hermana amone (the mission nurse) this trio has been fun, and absolutley crazy!! But i have learned so much!!!! anyway...i think thats it. LOVE YOU ALL!!!!! 

Wow

hey family and friends....

this week has been another great one. We had a baptism last sunday of familia romero. It was very beautiful and everybody was crying. This family now has plans that be sealed in the temple next year. And they are just so cute. They have a son that reminds me of Max...so I always love going over to their house. :) 

This week we have been working hard to find new people to teach here in Trebol. A little bit difficult, but not impossible to do. It is because everybody is so busy here with their work and they all have a different church that they go to. So sometimes contacting people in the street is difficult. We did the math as a district and we decided that to find 2 new people to teach, we need to contact at least 20 people a day. Crazy right? But we know that as we work with diligence and faith, we will find these new people to teach. Noormally in our contacting in the street...we are saying the same old thing to people, like: " We are missionaries, and we are here to serve you....and your family can live together forever through this gospel and message that we have to share with you..is there a day we can come back and visit you and your family?" Normally the response is negative. So we decided to change it up a little bit. Yesterday, we were in a passageway, it was dark, and we were trying to find someone to teach because we had an appointment fall through. Then we saw some little kids playing togetherin a doorway. And they saw us and were like, "can you teach us english????" haha so i was like, yeah of course. We arrived to the doorway, and some of the kids family members were inside of the house as well. We asked them if they would like to hear a song in english. Since my companion cannot speak much english, I had to sing by myself. I started to sing the first verse of, I am a Child of God. And it seemed as if my voice resonated throughout the passageway. The kids and their family members were captivated. And the other people in the passageway, started to open their doors and listen. Im sure it wasnt really my voice that they were captivated by....but more of the spirit that they felt. The spirit was so strong, and I was suprised that I even remembered the hymn in english. Needless to say, the form in the way we chnaged our contacting really worked. With every single one of these kids that we were singing to...we have a return appointment tommorow with their families. This was one of the coolest experiences I have had on my mission so far.

so what can i say? i am so happy. This gospel is amazing, and it truly is the foundation of my happiness. I cannot say that the mission has been super easy, but it has been super worth it. :) I know this gospel is true, and know that it is changing lives...it has especially chnaged mine.

I love you all so much, and hope that you all can know that this gospel is true. I know that if we are living worthily and trying our best to do the things that our right, we will recieve the blessings from this gospel. Always live worthy to feel of the spirit and to partake of the sacrament and attend the temple. I cannot express in words how happy it will make you when you can do this.

Have a great week. I love you all so much!!!! 

hermana thomas 

10 Months

hey family and friends!! 

this week has been great, and things are rocking in trebol!! we have a baptism on sunday, and we also have another date for baptism on march 2nd. We are really seeing the results of how the gospel can change the lives of people. And I love it!!!! 

last week, we had the chance to attend a baptism from Palmar. The special thing about it, is that the baptism was of some teenagers that I had been teaching when I was there in palmar. We walked into the church, and I got to see all the members from palmar...and then down the hall i saw these teenagers dressed in white, ready to make a covenant with God that would change the rest of their lives. The girl saw me, and we hugged each other. I feltl ike crying, I was just so happy!! I learned that day, that in the end, it doesnt matter who is baptizing the people, it just matters that we are opening our mouths and planting that gospel seed into the peoples hearts. I never baptized these kids...I could never count it as a "number" of baptisms I had in my mission.....but I just felt so happy that they were doing what was right. :) it was a very special moment. I will send pictures of the baptism.

There was also another baptism that we attended from palmar. We actually had a reunion that day when we walked in. But when we walked in, not one member was in this baptism. We felt so bad for the poor lady, that the whole entire zone attended the baptism. imagine that??? about 25 missionarys attending a baptism, and not one member. All of you members, please attend your ward baptisms. always. there is nothing more special in life, than to see someone change their lives through baptism. 

Oh and hey....guess what?? I have 10 months in the mission!!! cannot believe it!!! i am such a grandma in the mission! hahaha weird how time flys.....but yeah im good. We celebrated my 10 months, and my companions 5 months in the mission, by eating fruit popsicles. it was great!!! 

Things are great in the mission. Working hard, and never want to stop. For all of you that I havent written regularly, I apologize. But I think about all of you often. Know that you are always in my prayers, and 8 more months to go until I see you all again!!!! 

Have a great week!!!!! 

hermana thomas

CHANGES

CHANGES!!!!!!!!! 

After a long 2 months in Ahuachapan with hard hearted members and a really really tough companion...I finally have had a change. It sounds so bad....but I was so ready to leave. When the zone leaders called me to have a change, I just about cryed I was so happy. I packed up everything I had in about 30 minutes, and was ready to go. haha

So now I am in an area that is called Trebol, Santa Ana.

 It is about 10 minutes away from my old area..Palmar. My companion is hermana boror. She is from guatemala city, and she is one of the best companions I have ever had in the mission. The story is funny...because she was companions with hermana banuelos in the mtc (the sister that I trained in palmar) and the sister that trained hermana boror, was hermana peterson, my companion in the mtc. So all we kind of did was a switch. Its pretty much awesome. 

Well I am in the city again....no more mountains, no more dirt paths, no more twenty foot drop off metal bridges....and no more jungle. :( in that aspect, I am sad, because I loved the area. But the thing is, is that i am no longer suffering any more. haha so yeah, I am pretty much in paradidse!!!!!!! 

This area here is great. The members are strong, but there are not that many. Supposedly the church we have here is not a church...its a house. We are trying to increase the attendance on sundays, and baptize more families and priesthood....so that we can build a church and have them attend a real church house.

We have a family who has a date for baptism in march. I dont know them yet, but the date was set before I got here. But I look forward to knowing everybody more this week.

Love you all!!!!! have a great week!!!! and remember to do an act of service for a family member or a friend everyday! 

love, hermana thomas